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arXiv · 2601.17884

Nonperturbative double copy: worldline instantons, color thermality, and backreaction

John Joseph M. Carrasco·Yaxi Chen·Nicolas H. Pavao·Aslan Seifi
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Abstract

We present a first-principles, non-perturbative worldline instanton analysis of vacuum decay in the non-abelian Yang-Mills root of a Schwarzschild background. We recover the gauge theory color-thermal spectrum as a topological winding mode. The double copy maps vacuum response from the gauge theory directly to the gravity theory. Furthermore, the decay exponent acquires a universal quadratic correction from color charge conservation, showing that the double copy correctly captures the non-linear backreaction as required for unitarity.

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John Joseph M. Carrasco, Yaxi Chen, Nicolas H. Pavao, Aslan Seifi. 2026-01-25. Nonperturbative double copy: worldline instantons, color thermality, and backreaction. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.17884

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